Blog

Bare in mind that the differences between homonyms and homophones are bear minimum. You’ll have to

Or is it bear with me? Maybe bair with me?

Human relationships are complex, word relationships even more so. There are complex grammar rules, silent letters and words that are spelled the same way but may or may not mean the same thing. Or sound the same. So you see where this could get more than a little complicated for the average writer and reader.

Pray tell me how not to fall prey to the seemingly complex web of it all. Well, we’re here to help you out with just that.The problem with homonyms and homophones is something even the most hardcore of word geeks struggle with.

Why you ask? Let us first understand the clear distinctions between the three and get over our apparent ‘homonophobia’ before we delve into the why of it all.

1) Homonyms

Pronunciation – Same

Spelling – Same

A homonym is, by the most stringent dictionary requirements, a word that is spelled and pronounced like another but has a different meaning. This basically means that it needs to be both a homophone as well as a homograph in order to be called a homonym.

However, some sources do say that it’s a homonym even as long as it’s just one of the two.

For the purpose of illustration, let us use the word lead.

Tom played the lead role in the school’s annual play.

“You’re the boss, lead the way!”

In the first sentence, lead has been used in its verb form, meaning to ‘go in first’. Whereas in the second sentence, lead is being used in the noun form to mean the chief role in a play/film.

2) Homophones

Pronunciation – Same

Spelling – Different

Homophones are words that sound the same but are often spelled differently. The ‘phone’ in the word should give you a clue to the fact that these are similar sounding words that mean completely different things.

All homophones are homonyms, but not all homonyms are homophones (obviously).

Again, let us take an example of the word lead.

There were reports of high lead content in those noodles.

He took her hand and led her into the woods.

Here, while the first sentence refers to the noun lead to mean the metal, the second sentence is the verb form of the word lead.

3) Homographs

Pronunciation – Different

Spelling – Same

Which finally brings us to homographs. They’re quite the exact opposite of homophones, so the distinction here is clear. While homophones are similar sounding words, homographs are words that have the same spelling.

Homographs have different pronunciations and meanings, and the fact that ‘lead’ has many irregular participle forms and meanings makes it confusing.

All roads lead to Rome.

Lead is heavier than graphite.

While the first lead refers to ‘guiding’, the second one is the noun usage of the metal lead.

Sounds good? It might take a while to get used to it and to be able to tell the difference correctly. But why is all of this important? Sometimes in the process of writing, one ends up using these similar words interchangeably, thereby risking the reader inferring a different meaning than the writer intended.

Lead (rhymes with dead) and led (rhymes with said) are homographs, but lead (rhymes with seed) and led aren’t. If your sentence doesn’t clearly indicate which form of lead you’re referring to, the reader could easily divulge a different meaning or just find it nonsensical. If a homonym retains all meanings and conflicting opinions, understanding the right meaning is tricky.

So what does the prudent writer do? Follow the strictest meaning of the word, and ensure the sentence has enough context for the reader to understand.

Or, of course, PaperTrue these worries away. Our editors will happy to take a look at your document to find just these kind of hard to spot errors and eliminate them. Visit our website to learn more!

PaperTrue Services

4.5/5

4.6/5

Over 1000 customers have rated PaperTrue 4.5 out of 5 on Google reviews and 4.6 out of 5 on Reviews.co.uk.

A Bks

Papertrue! True! True! True!

My experience with papertrue.com was great. I came across their site from the high ratings. And the high ratings proved to be true. Once I got onto their site, I was immediately helped by a papertrue.com Rep, a live person, who helped answer my questions and walked me through the process. That was a big plus! And as a first timer, I got a discount or free edit. That was another plus! And the transaction was quick and easy. The turnaround time was also fast, delivery was on schedule and on time as specified. Another plus! My editor was also great and very helpful with comments, notes and suggestions. And when my document was completed and I had to ask a question to my editor, the Customer Service Rep was quick to respond. They escalated the matter so that my question would reach my editor and my editor would give me a reply directly and quickly. And my editor did just that. That was a major plus! Overall, thumbs up on great Customer Service and Editorial service. I would recommend them and look forward to working with them again. Thank you papertrue.com!

jammersanger

More than I had hoped for!

Did two jobs with PaperTrue and I'm highly satisfied. In one of the jobs I had some questions regarding their proposed changes and they immediately dug into it and explained why they had chosen certain expressions instead of others and what the differences were. That's really more than I had hoped for! And their chat-people are very alert - and good fun, too!

Jan Goepel

Very trustworthy and extremely efficient

I had an academic document proofread by the papertrue team. They not only corrected numerous grammar and spelling issues, they also advised on certain expressions according to my target audience. And the best, they did so over night... extremely fast, extremely good, and trustworthy service. Will be coming here again for the next publication.

Jonathan

Even my tutor can not find these errors

Thank you for editing my document on time. The editor pointed my attention to my commonly made mistakes; missing words, incorrect spelling and grammatical inconsistencies throughout the document.
I was happy to receive both a tracked and a clean version of the edited document.
I will happily recommend PaperTrue to my friends, and I will myself come back on a later occasion.

Reginald Maddox

Excellent Service, Highly Recommended

I have used PaperTrue for several editing projects for my website. They have edited small and large projects for me. PaperTrue offers great pricing with no hidden fees, they always deliver on time and I love the fact that they provide a clean version and a corrected version showing the recommend changes. I highly recommend this company for anyone looking for quality editing services. They have great communications, project completion dates are given when ordered and they have consistently met the deadline. I am extremely satisfied and I will remain a loyal customer.

Eva

Great service, great company!

We are a Spanish advertising agency that work for international companies. Usually we need our copies to be reviewed. We trust Papertrue for doing this, they are always super-professional and always deliver the documents on time. I recommend them 100%

Dalchen

Improvement in structure, language and formatting

My cover letter was corrected very professionally, with very detailed comments and explanation. Smaller issues like my unclear description were changed shortly in a revision version, with a very smooth communication. I have learned also from the formating. For further CVs I will still consider their service, because the cover letter has to be formulated for specific job description. I don't do massive job application.

Madkin Kelly

Quick 24 hour turnaround

Paper True was quick and effective. I needed a 24 hr turnaround and they provided me edits to my resume that became the talk of the town among my team. Everyone loved how thorough the edits were. Thank you Paper True for helping me so quickly and effectively.

Nora

Aaron is the best editor!

I live in Zürich and needed to have my cooking book "The Food Is Ready" , edited in english before I publish it. So I decided to sent the manuscript to Paper True and I can only tell that I was really impress when I saw the work they did. Aaron my Editor has correct the language and grammar errors. He has done a terrific work improving phrasing and consistency of my book. If you are looking for a serious company I can really recommend Paper True. And "they are allways there available if you have any questions"

Caroline Amstrup

An amazing job!

As a sixteen years old Danish girl I must admit finding the right editor was hard, but I found THE one ;)
Amazing service and a welcoming chat on the website! I love the detailed comments and feedback on the tracked document :) They really did a good job at making my debut novel a lot better while still keeping my style of writing!
Much love from Denmark <3